Of the three Vancouver Canucks prospects that started the 2022 World Junior Championship, two remain.
Jacob Truscott and Team USA were shockingly knocked out in the quarterfinals by Czechia after dominating the group stage. That left Joni Jurmo and Finland, who easily handled Germany in their quarterfinal match, and Jonathan Lekkerimäki and Sweden, who squeaked by Latvia 2-1.
The two Nordic rivals faced each other in the semifinals on Friday, with the winner going on to the gold medal game against Canada and the loser heading to the bronze medal game against Czechia.
More important than the result of the game — at least for PITB’s purposes — was the performance of Jurmo and Lekkerimäki. How did the two Canucks prospects play when the pressure was on?
Finland 1 - 0 Sweden
It was a tight, hard-fought game between Finland and Sweden, with Finland carrying the slight advantage in possession and shots on goal. Generally speaking, it felt like Sweden relied too much on their defencemen to create offence and struggled to get to the middle of the ice for quality scoring chances but they were in it right until the final horn.
Sweden also got into penalty trouble, with their first penalty coming just 17 seconds into the game. Sweden’s four penalties cost them, as the lone Finland goal came on the power play in the second period when Finnish defenceman Kasper Puutio caught the Swedish penalty killers flat-footed in transition.
That was the only goal Finland would need, as they held on to the one-goal lead for the rest of the game for the 1-0 win.
It was fitting with how Finland and Sweden have played this entire tournament. Finland leads the World Juniors in penalties drawn and power play goals by a wide margin. Sweden has been stingy defensively, allowing the lowest goals against per game, while struggling to score much themselves.
Lekkerimäki played minimal minutes
It was tough for Lekkerimäki to have a major impact on the game because he simply didn’t play much at all. He finished with exactly 10 minutes in ice time. The only forward in the lineup that played less was Albert Sjoberg, who didn’t play at all as the team’s 13th forward.
Still, Lekkerimäki played well in his limited ice time, getting one of Sweden’s best chances early on when he took a stretch pass and finagled his way around Puutio to get to the net.
If Lekkerimäki had been able to elevate the puck like he wanted to, it could have been a lovely goal. Even without the finish, the play showed some strong puck possession given Lekkerimäki’s smaller frame, as he held off Puutio to get the chance.
That was Lekkerimäki’s only shot of the game, though that wasn’t entirely his fault.
When Sweden got a long 5-on-3 in the second period, Lekkerimäki was immediately put on the ice low on the left side, where he could potentially be used for quick shots on passes cross-ice or from below the goal line. Unfortunately, those passes never came.
Instead, the Swedish 5-on-3 largely consisted of the two defencemen — Helge Grans and Emil Andrae — passing back and forth and creating little more than a couple of long, unscreened wrist shots. That was their best chance to tie the game and the opportunity was wasted.
Still, it’s a nice vote of confidence for Lekkerimäki, the youngest player on the Swedish squad, to be on the 5-on-3. It’s just a shame they never made use of his lethal shot.
Lekkerimäki, who had been passive at times earlier in the tournament, was a little bit more assertive against Finland, throwing a solid hit on one third-period forecheck and stealing the puck on another forecheck, only to have his subsequent centring pass deflect and bounce wildly instead of landing on the tape of his intended recipient.
Overall, it wasn’t Lekkerimäki’s best game but he wasn’t really given a chance to have his best game. As Sweden shortened their bench in the third period, looking for the tying goal, Lekkerimäki wound up playing just two minutes in the final frame. Hopefully, Lekkerimäki gets a bigger role for the 2023 World Juniors.
His tournament isn't over yet, of course. Lekkerimäki and Sweden will play Czechia for bronze on Saturday at 1 p.m. on TSN.
Jurmo’s one bad shift doesn’t shake him
Joni Jurmo played just 13:41 for Finland but it was a busy 14 minutes. Since Jurmo doesn’t play on either side of special teams for Finland, the many penalties in the first two periods meant long breaks between action for Jurmo but he was heavily involved when he was on the ice.
That was both a good and a bad thing for Jurmo.
The good was that Jurmo continued to be a force on the breakout, using his excellent skating to escape forecheckers and attack through the neutral zone with speed.
Early in the second period, however, Jurmo had a sour shift that nearly cost Finland dearly.
Jurmo got the puck in the defensive zone and looked to quickly break the puck back up ice. Unfortunately, Jurmo is better at breaking out with his skates than his passing and he put the puck right on a Swedish stick up the middle, leading to a dangerous shot for Sweden.
That’s a situation where Jurmo has to keep his head up and read where his forward is going on the ice. Better yet, all he needs to do is make a simple D-to-D pass to relieve the pressure and give his defence partner an opportunity to move the puck up ice.
Shortly after, Jurmo then lost the puck again behind the net, leading to another dangerous chance for Sweden. It was a disastrous shift and Jurmo was briefly benched.
Here’s the thing: lots of players have a bad shift. What matter is what happens next and Jurmo responded well the rest of the game. He was solid defensively from that point on, made better choices on the breakout, and was still confident enough to rush the puck up ice.
On one third-period rush that started behind the Finnish net, Jurmo weaved right through the neutral zone and gave Juuso Maenpaa a chance in transition that Maenpaa rang off the crossbar.
Later in the third period, a great breakout pass by Jurmo led to a transition chance for Eetu Liukas that he put off the goalpost.
Jurmo was a couple of posts away from a two-assist game and Finland from a 3-0 lead.
Jurmo’s ability to escape pressure in the defensive zone is really quite remarkable. This third period sequence is a prime example, as Jurmo uses his mobility to repeatedly evade forecheckers until the right opportunity to break out of the zone presents itself.
The best part of that breakout is how Jurmo, unlike in his disastrous shift earlier in the game, identifies the right time and place to pass the puck, hitting his forward in stride in the neutral zone for the entry.
Overall, it was a good game for Jurmo despite the one ugly shift. There is a sense that Jurmo sometimes needs to simplify his game and make more simple, D-to-D passes, but his ability to rush the puck is still an exciting component of his game.
Jurmo will be playing for gold against Canada on Saturday at 5 p.m., with the game airing on TSN.
